Premier League and Championship Preview

After last week’s double weekend for most clubs in the Premier League, every side has played three matches in the 2019 red ball season.

The Hills have continued their unblemished season in domestic cricket, winning all three of their matches so far to top the table. On Saturday they travel to the Phoenix Park to play a Phoenix side with only one win from three and no doubt still smarting from a Naseer Shaukat inspired 7-wicket defeat in the League Cup final.

Two sides with identical records meet at Anglesea Road as Merrion host Pembroke. Merrion will be looking to bounce back after being well beaten by Malahide last weekend. Pembroke, also beaten by Malahide last weekend, will be looking to continue to make light of the absence of their internationals as Theo Lawson racks up the runs.

The Villagers for their part were beaten by YMCA on the opening weekend but will be looking to continue their good form when they travel north to take on Rush on Saturday. Rush have fallen to three defeats this season, but two defeats last weekend can partly be explained as they had three players involved with the Ireland Wolves’ victory over Zimbabwe.

The final match on Saturday sees Leinster travel to Sandymount to play YMCA. Both sides have lost two matches already in the Premier League and will be keen to put a win on the board and pull away from the bottom of the table.

In the Championship, the big match is at Castle Avenue where Clontarf entertain Balbriggan.

Should Clontarf win both sides will have identical three and one records, however should Balbriggan win they’ll open up a two-match gap over the next best record in the division.

The four other sides in the Championship have all won one match and lost two. With Cork County travelling to North County and Terenure away to Railway Union, all four will be looking to move up the table with a win.

Stay tuned to the match centre on www.cricketleinster.ie, watch out for tweets on both @cricketleinster and from reporter Peter Boyd (@fibrofella), with a full match report and images to follow at the close of play.

This weekend, the match under focus will be the meeting of last year’s Division 2 rivals Rush and Malahide at Kenure Park in the Premier League.